Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-03-09
HOW SHOT Is MADE.
Tho Entire Process Explained by q
Reliable Expert.
Accidental Discovery of the Tower Proc.
cess of Masking shot-Droppiag Lead
that Has n Temperature of FIf-
teen Hundred Degrees.
IN. Y. Mail and Exnress I

IN. Y. Mail and Express.l
How many New Workers hayo found
time to penetrate the mysteries of a shot
tower! Not moro than one in so of the
city's population ever visits tho towers.
The trip is not without its reward. 1t is
astonishing how much the average man
may learn about very commonplace
things. Mr.. e. c. Tracy is superintendent
of one of New Yorl1's shot towers. Enter
ing the factory the first thing seen is an
enormous fy-wheel, nearly as large as
that of the great Corliss engine, which is
part OF the sitting and sorting machin-
cry Passing through and leaving behind
The rumble of the heavy engine, patter
like that of hail is heard. Looking down
one sees a tank of water twelve feet
deep. Into this the shot continually rain.
This is No. 6 shot," said Mr.. Tracy.
ut falls from the first landing, distance
OF l40 feet. About three-fourths of it is
found to be of the desired size, No. 6, as il
comes from the water. The remainder is
of different sizes, and certain small
fraction is imperfect and must be melted
again. Now, if you are ready for a hard
climb, we viii go upstairs. l have been
here twenty-one years. These stairs did
not formerly bother me at all, but now
they catch my knees litt'e.''
AT the first landing stood "A man with
leather gloves, leather apron and sponge
at nose, before vast cauldron filled with
molten lead He was using a large ladle
with which he replenished a cast-iron pot
standing in sort of box like cistern
top. Down through the bottom OF This
pot, perforated like colandcr, the glob-
ules of lead fell.
You know" said Mr.. Tracy, ''that the
discovery of this process came about all
by accident. Some roofers were repairing
church spire. One of the worlkmen hap
pened to notice that the solder which fell
from his lofty perch was found in tiny
globes upon the ground beneath the
steeple. From this fact he argued that the
roundness of shape must be caused by the
effect OF the long passage through the air.
and the principle of the shot tower was
evolved. Till that time all shot was
moulded. Lead melts at about 500 degrees
Fahrenheit. This lead, which the man is
handling, has temperature of something
like 1,51O degrees. You may imagine it is
pretty hot. This little kettle holds 1000
pounds of lead, which all goes down in
about two hours. We get pig lead from
Omaha and Newark. Generally we carry
S75 tons of shot in stock"
Mr.. Tracy climbed to the second landing
one hundred and eighty-five feet above the
ground. There the writer was introduced
10 furnace and cauldron for larger-siZed
shot. The view from the windows was
superb. Twenty feet above is the roof of
the tower Any one who had mounted to
the second landing is quite ready to rest a
few moments while the process of shot
making is explained. Lead shot," said
Mr.. Tracy, though sometimes made of
lead alone, is almost always formed of an
alloy of arsenic and lead. The arsenic is
introduced In the forr1 of arsenious acid or
the sulphuret The object of the addition
OF the arsenic is to render the hard, brittle
qualities of the lead softer and more due
tile, and of the proper consis tence to take
tho globular form. Owing to the rapid de-
composition of the ar enic, it is treated by
itself in the bottom of the melting kettle.
"A cover is placed over the substance, and
its stem, which rises up through the ket-
tie is fastened down. The lead is then
added above the cover, and when melted
the cover is lifted out of the LIQUID mass.
which instantly becomes permcated with
the arsenic beneath. The alloy thus pro-
duced contains forty-1ve pounds of arsenic
TO Inc ton Of lead, and is known as lem
per- This again is added, in the propor-
uon OF one per cent, to the pure lead, and
thus the shot alloy, containing a very
small percentage of arsenic, is produced.
The tempeI-pcts' hold about ton of metal
each. After the shot have reached the
bottom OF the we'll they are at once lifted
OUT by an elevator and thrown upon an in
clined drying table, over which they slide.
falling finally into wire-gauZc rotating
cyInGer Then they are rolled and ground
together, and in this way the minute burrs
upon thom ere removed. From the cylin-
der another elevator lifts the shot upon a
screening table This consists of series
of planes arranged at gradually decreas-
ing heights. Between each two there is
an interval. The shot being started at the
Eoad OF the highest plane will. if perfect,
ron IRON oGe Plane TO another, jumping
over the intermediate spaces If imper-
Iect: however, it tumbles and goes back to
the melting kettle. The good shot, after
passing this ordeal, rcacA the separators
1t should be explained that there are usu-
ally several tables, each bein devoted to
different size of shot. The little lcaden
globes are next elevated to the top cylin-
der OF series, arranged on an incline
They are couieal in form, and COW
cred with perforated sheet brass.
Each cylinder serves as sieve for
4 particular size of shot, retain
ing that and allowing all smaller sizes to
escape. The shifting goes ON until each
cylinder has picked out the particular
class of shot to which it is adapted The
sizes OF shot are standard. The smallest
is known as dust and then cones No.
r., which is .05 inch in diameter, Z, 331 shot
going 10 the ounce. The sizes then in
crease by one-hundrcdths of an inch up to
twenty ty-three-hundrcdths OF which there
are tweaty-four shot TO the ounce The
shot being assorted, polishing alone re-
mains to be done. This is accomplished
by placing the shot, together with plum
haso, IN box, which is rapidly rotated.
The glossy black smoothncss is thus ilnpart-
ed. The shot are then weighed, bagged
and ready for sale"
"Are not the fumes of the lead and ar
senic very injurious 20 the workmenr' Mr..
Tracy was asked.
well, there is no denying that some
men are affected by the fumes engendered
III the process OF manufacture Some sys-
TENS can not stand it. One of our en-
ployes showed signs Of poisoning. lie
grew feeble and gave up his place. But.
after VACATION of seven months, he re-
turned to IA again, and remained nine
years, in perfect health 1t is difilcult to
lay down general rule. Our men are all
healthy. Painters, corroders and sreI,
ers are much moro exposed to noxiouh
fumes than are those engaged in making
stot"